The present invention relates to shopping assistance solutions, and in particular, to methods and systems for maintaining purchase records, creating shopping lists, and comparing merchant pricing. The user experience in performing shopping functions is simplified and enhanced over existing methods.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection. Each claim is shown in both the original legal language and a plain English translation.
1. A method of providing item availability and pricing transaction information over a network, comprising: registering a first user over a network by an item availability and pricing transaction processing system wherein the registration includes creating a first user account and storing the created first user account in computer readable memory; receiving at the item availability and pricing transaction processing system coupled to at least one data network, a first receipt provided by the first user, for one or more items purchased at a first merchant wherein the first receipt includes associated item prices, or receiving at the item availability and pricing transaction processing system, one or more item prices at the first merchant provided by the first user; storing in a first list by the item availability and pricing transaction processing system, at least one of the received item prices provided by the first user; registering a second user by the item availability and pricing transaction processing system wherein the registration includes creating a second user account and storing the created second user account in computer readable memory; receiving at the item availability and pricing transaction processing system, a second receipt provided by the second user, for one or more items purchased at the first merchant or at a second merchant wherein the second receipt includes associated item prices, or receiving at the item availability and pricing transaction processing system, one or more item prices at the first merchant or at the second merchant provided by the second user; storing in a second list by the item availability and pricing transaction processing system, at least one of the received item prices provided by the second user; providing an item availability and pricing transaction software program on the first user's mobile device; receiving at the item availability and pricing transaction software program, a user request provided by the first user to determine a lowest price of an item or a lowest price of a group of associated items; querying by the item availability and pricing transaction software program, the first user's mobile device GPS capabilities to determine a current geographic location of the first user; determining by the item availability and pricing transaction processing system, one or more merchants located within a configurable distance from the determined first user's current geographic location wherein each of the one or more merchants is a first merchant or a second merchant; querying by the item availability and pricing transaction processing system, the stored first list and the stored second list to determine the lowest price for the item or the group of associated items at the determined merchants located within the configurable distance from the determined first user's current geographic location; and displaying via a first user interface by the item availability and pricing transaction software program, a list of one or more merchants located within the configurable distance from the determined first user's location in which the item or the group of associated items is offered at the lowest price.
A system provides item pricing and availability information. Users register accounts. Users submit receipts (or item prices) to the system. The system stores this price information in lists. Users can then request the lowest price of an item (or a group of items) via a mobile app. The system uses the user's GPS location to find nearby merchants. The system queries the stored price lists to find the lowest price at those merchants within a configurable distance. The mobile app displays a list of merchants with the lowest price for the item (or group of items) within the specified distance of the user.
2. The method as defined in claim 1 , the method further comprising: receiving by the item availability and pricing transaction software program, a response to an instruction requesting that the item availability and pricing transaction software program display directions from the first user's current geographic location to a location of at least one of the displayed one or more merchants with the lowest price for the item or for the group of associated items; querying by the item availability and pricing transaction processing system, a database to determine the location of the at least one of the displayed one or more merchants with the lowest price for the item or for the group of associated items; querying by the item availability and pricing transaction processing system, an external database to determine directions from the first user's current geographic location to the location of the at least one of the displayed one or more merchants with the lowest price for the item or for the group of associated items based at least in part on the first user's determined current geographic location; and displaying via the first user interface by the item availability and pricing transaction software program, the determined directions from the first user's current geographic location to the location of the at least one of the displayed one or more merchants with the lowest price for the item or for the group of associated items.
The item pricing system from the previous description (where users submit receipts, the system finds the lowest prices, and displays the merchants) also provides directions to the merchant with the lowest price. When a user requests directions to a merchant, the system looks up the merchant's location in a database. The system then queries an external mapping service to get directions from the user's current GPS location to the merchant's location. The mobile app then displays these directions to the user.
3. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the second merchant is a plurality of merchants, the second user is a plurality of users, the second receipt is a plurality of receipts, and the second list is a plurality of lists.
The item pricing system from the initial description (where users submit receipts, the system finds the lowest prices, and displays the merchants) extends to multiple merchants, multiple users, multiple receipts, and multiple price lists. Instead of just two users and two merchants, the system handles many users submitting many receipts from many merchants to build many lists of item prices, to allow for better price comparisons.
4. The method as defined in claim 1 , the method further comprising: displaying via the first user interface at the item availability and pricing transaction software program, a price of the item at the one or more merchants with the lowest price for the item.
The item pricing system from the initial description (where users submit receipts, the system finds the lowest prices, and displays the merchants) also displays the actual price of the item at the merchants offering the lowest price. This provides the user with immediate price visibility in addition to location information.
5. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the first list or the second list is a single item list.
The item pricing system from the initial description (where users submit receipts, the system finds the lowest prices, and displays the merchants) uses lists that can contain a single item. Each list stores price data for a specific item, allowing for efficient price tracking and comparison for that item across multiple merchants.
6. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein a group of associated items is regular unleaded, medium unleaded, and premium unleaded automotive gasoline fuel.
In the item pricing system from the initial description (where users submit receipts, the system finds the lowest prices, and displays the merchants), a group of associated items can be gasoline fuel grades: regular unleaded, medium unleaded, and premium unleaded. The system can find the cheapest gas station based on the user's location.
7. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the lowest price determination includes any discounts available to the first user.
In the item pricing system from the initial description (where users submit receipts, the system finds the lowest prices, and displays the merchants), the lowest price calculation includes any discounts available to the user. The system considers discounts when determining the absolute lowest price for an item.
8. The method as defined in claim 7 , wherein the discounts available to the first user are determined based at least in part on the first receipt indicating a credit card payment.
In the item pricing system where the lowest price calculation includes any discounts available to the user, the discounts can be determined based on whether the receipt indicates a credit card payment. This allows the system to take advantage of credit card rewards or discounts associated with specific payment methods.
9. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the lowest price determination includes travel costs that the first user would incur to travel to a merchant.
In the item pricing system from the initial description (where users submit receipts, the system finds the lowest prices, and displays the merchants), the lowest price calculation includes the travel costs that the user would incur to travel to a merchant. This would allow a user to determine whether it is worth it to drive further for a slightly lower price.
10. The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising: notifying the first user by the item availability and pricing transaction processing system when previously out-of-stock items become in-stock at the first merchant or at the second merchant.
The item pricing system from the initial description (where users submit receipts, the system finds the lowest prices, and displays the merchants) notifies users when previously out-of-stock items become available at a merchant. Users can get alerted when an item they were previously unable to purchase is back in stock.
11. The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising: displaying via the first user interface by the item availability and pricing transaction software program, an indication that the item availability and pricing software program has never received a first receipt from the first user for a purchase at a one or more of the one or more displayed merchants with the lowest price for the item or for the group of associated items.
The item pricing system from the initial description (where users submit receipts, the system finds the lowest prices, and displays the merchants) indicates when the user has never submitted a receipt for a purchase at a particular merchant. This will let a user know if the prices at a certain merchant is crowdsourced, and not based on their own purchases.
12. A method of providing transaction information over a network, comprising: registering a first user over a first network by a transaction processing system wherein the registration includes creating a first user account and storing the created first user account in computer readable memory; receiving at the transaction processing system, a first receipt provided by a second user, for one or more items purchased at a first merchant wherein the first receipt includes associated item prices, or receiving at the transaction processing system, one or more item prices at the first merchant provided by the second user; storing in a first list by the transaction processing system, at least one of the received item prices provided by the second user; providing a transaction processing software program on a first user's mobile device; receiving at the transaction processing software program, a user request provided by the first user to determine a lowest price of a at least one item; querying by the transaction processing software program, the first user's mobile device GPS capabilities to determine a current geographic location of the first user; determining by the transaction processing system, one or more merchants located within a configurable distance from the determined first user's current geographic location wherein each of the one or more merchants is a first merchant; querying by the transaction processing system, the stored first list to determine the lowest price for the at least one item at the determined first merchants located within the configurable distance from the determined first user's current geographic location; displaying via a first user interface by the transaction processing system, a list of the determined first merchants located within the configurable distance from the determined first user's current geographic location in which the at least one item is offered at the lowest price receiving by the transaction processing system, a response to an instruction requesting that the transaction processing system display directions from the first user's current geographic location to a location of at least one of the listed merchants; querying by the transaction processing system, a data store to determine the location of at least one of the listed merchants; querying by the transaction processing system, over the first network or a second network, a data store to determine directions from the first user's current geographic location to the location of the at least one of the listed merchants based at least in part on the first user's determined current geographic location; and displaying via the first user interface by the transaction processing system, the determined directions from the first user's current geographic location to the location of the at least one of the listed merchants.
A system provides transaction information. A first user registers. A second user provides receipts (or item prices) from a first merchant. The system stores this price information in a list. The first user requests the lowest price of an item via a mobile app. The system uses the first user's GPS location to find nearby merchants. The system queries the stored price list to find the lowest price at the merchants within a configurable distance. The mobile app displays a list of merchants with the lowest price. The first user can request directions to a listed merchant. The system gets the merchant location and generates directions using the user's location, displaying the directions on the mobile app.
13. The method as defined in claim 12 , wherein the first merchant is a plurality of merchants, the second user is a plurality of users, the first receipt is a plurality of receipts, and the first list is a plurality of lists.
The system from the previous description (where a second user submits receipts, the system finds the lowest prices, and displays the merchants to the first user) handles multiple merchants, multiple users submitting the price data, multiple receipts, and multiple price lists. Instead of just one price submitter and one merchant, the system handles many users submitting many receipts from many merchants to build many lists of item prices, to allow for better price comparisons.
14. The method as defined in claim 12 , wherein the transaction processing system includes the transaction processing software program and one or more networked servers.
The transaction information system from the previous description (where a second user submits receipts, the system finds the lowest prices, and displays the merchants to the first user) includes the transaction processing software program running on the mobile device and one or more networked servers. The mobile device client and remote server infrastructure coordinate to provide the service.
15. The method as defined in claim 12 , the method further comprising: displaying via the first user interface at the transaction processing system, a price of the item at the listed one or more merchants with the lowest price for the at least one item.
The transaction information system from the previous description (where a second user submits receipts, the system finds the lowest prices, and displays the merchants to the first user) also displays the actual price of the item at the merchants offering the lowest price. This gives the user immediate price visibility.
16. The method as defined in claim 12 , wherein the first list is a single item list.
A system and method for managing data lists in a computing environment addresses the challenge of efficiently handling and processing data entries, particularly when dealing with minimal or single-item lists. The invention provides a technique for optimizing list operations by treating a single-item list as a distinct case, improving computational efficiency and reducing overhead in data processing tasks. The method involves identifying when a list contains only one item and applying specialized handling procedures tailored for such cases, rather than using generic list-processing algorithms that may be less efficient for minimal data sets. This approach minimizes unnecessary computational steps, enhances performance, and ensures accurate data management. The system may be integrated into various applications, including databases, software tools, and data analysis platforms, where efficient list manipulation is critical. By distinguishing single-item lists from multi-item lists, the invention streamlines operations, reduces resource consumption, and improves overall system responsiveness. The method can be applied in scenarios such as data filtering, sorting, or retrieval, where recognizing and optimizing for single-item lists leads to significant performance gains. The invention ensures that even minimal data sets are processed efficiently, contributing to a more robust and scalable computing environment.
17. The method as defined in claim 12 , wherein the lowest price determination includes travel costs that the first user would incur to travel to a merchant.
In the transaction information system from the previous description (where a second user submits receipts, the system finds the lowest prices, and displays the merchants to the first user), the lowest price determination includes travel costs that the first user would incur to travel to a merchant. This allows the user to determine if it is worth driving further for a better price.
18. A system comprising: at least one computing device; program instructions stored in non-transitory memory, that when executed by the at least one computing device, are configured to cause the system to perform operations comprising: registering a first user over a first network wherein the registration includes creating a first user account and storing the created first user account; receiving a first receipt provided by a second user, for one or more items purchased at a first merchant wherein the first receipt includes associated item prices, or receiving one or more item prices at the first merchant provided by the second user; storing in a first list, at least one of the received item prices provided by the second user; providing a transaction processing software program on a first user's mobile device; receiving a user request provided by the first user to determine a lowest price of at least one item; querying the first user's mobile device GPS capabilities to determine a current geographic location of the first user; determining one or more merchants located within a configurable distance from the determined first user's current geographic location wherein said one or more merchants is a first merchant; querying the stored first list to determine the lowest price for the at least one item at the determined first merchants located within the configurable distance from the determined first user's current geographic location; displaying via a first user interface, a list of the determined first merchants located within the configurable distance from the determined first user's geographic location in which the at least one item is offered at the lowest price; receiving a response to an instruction requesting that the transaction processing system display directions from the first user's current geographic location to a location of at least one of the listed merchants; querying a data store to determine the location of at least one of the listed merchants; querying over the first network or a second network, a data store to determine directions from the first user's current geographic location to the location of the at least one of the listed merchants based at least in part on the first user's determined current geographic location; and displaying via the first user interface the determined directions from the first user's current geographic location to the location of the at least one of the listed merchants.
A system includes a computing device and memory with instructions. The system registers a first user. A second user provides receipts (or item prices) from a first merchant. The system stores the price information in a list. The first user requests the lowest price of an item via a mobile app. The system uses the first user's GPS location to find nearby merchants. The system queries the stored price list to find the lowest price at the merchants within a configurable distance. The mobile app displays a list of merchants with the lowest price. The first user can request directions to a listed merchant. The system gets the merchant location and generates directions using the user's location, displaying the directions on the mobile app.
19. The system as defined in claim 18 , wherein the first merchant is a plurality of merchants, the second user is a plurality of users, the first receipt is a plurality of receipts, and the first list is a plurality of lists.
The system from the previous description (where a second user submits receipts, the system finds the lowest prices, and displays the merchants to the first user) handles multiple merchants, multiple users submitting the price data, multiple receipts, and multiple price lists. Instead of just one price submitter and one merchant, the system handles many users submitting many receipts from many merchants to build many lists of item prices, to allow for better price comparisons.
20. A system comprising: at least one computing device; program instructions stored in non-transitory memory, that when executed by the at least one computing device, are configured to cause the system to perform operations comprising: registering a first user over a network wherein the registration includes creating a first user account and storing the created first user account in computer readable memory; receiving a first receipt provided by the first user, for one or more items purchased at a first merchant wherein the first receipt includes associated item prices, or receiving one or more item prices at the first merchant provided by the first user; storing in a first list at least one of the received item prices provided by the first user; registering a second user wherein the registration includes creating a second user account and storing the created second user account in computer readable memory; receiving a second receipt provided by the second user, for one or more items purchased at the first merchant or at a second merchant wherein the second receipt includes associated item prices, or receiving one or more item prices at the first merchant or at the second merchant provided by the second user; storing in a second list at least one of the received item prices provided by the second user; providing an item availability and pricing transaction software program on the first user's mobile device; receiving a user request provided by the first user to determine a lowest price of an item or a lowest price of a group of associated items; querying the first user's mobile device GPS capabilities to determine a current geographic location of the first user; determining one or more merchants located within a configurable distance from the determined first user's current geographic location wherein each of the one or more merchants is a first merchant or a second merchant; querying the stored first list and the stored second list to determine the lowest price for the item or the group of associated items at the determined merchants located within the configurable distance from the determined first user's current geographic location; and displaying via a first user interface a list of one or more merchants located within the configurable distance from the determined first user's location in which the item or the group of associated items is offered at the lowest price.
A system has a computing device and memory. It registers a first user. The first user provides receipts (or item prices) from a first merchant. The system stores the price information in a list. It registers a second user. The second user provides receipts (or item prices) from the first merchant or a second merchant. The system stores this information in a second list. The first user requests the lowest price of an item (or group of items) via a mobile app. The system uses the user's GPS location to find nearby merchants. The system queries the price lists to find the lowest price at those merchants within a configurable distance. The mobile app displays a list of merchants with the lowest price for the item (or group of items) within the specified distance of the user.
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August 31, 2012
June 18, 2013
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